The ISRO Espionage Case: Nambi Narayanan’s 30-Year Struggle For Justice

On November 30, 1994, Dr. Nambi Narayanan's life was irrevocably altered. The former ISRO scientist was the prime accused in the infamous espionage case. That day, a team of police officers stormed into his house and arrested him. Even now, 30 years later, the memory that haunts him most is the blurred image of his wife collapsing at the door as he was forcibly taken away. He never got the chance to look back, to check on her, or to care for her. This was just the beginning of the ordeals that would permanently change his life.

After endless episodes of interrogation, custodial torture, imprisonment, and media trial, Dr. Nambi Narayanan was exonerated two years later following a CBI investigation in which no offence was found. The CBI filed a closure report in 1996, stating that there was hardly any evidence substantiating the alleged offence of espionage. In 2018, 24 years later, the Supreme Court ordered a compensation award of Rs 50 lakh to Nambi Narayanan.

Dr. Nambi Narayanan did not give up his fight. He continued his legal battle, seeking action against the cops responsible for his ordeal. The CBI conducted an investigation into the incidents leading to the arrest and detention of all the victims framed up in espionage case. A few days ago, the CBI submitted the charge sheet that resolved all the remaining mysteries in the case. It was found by the CBI that the ISRO espionage case was nothing but the outcome of revenge, sexual jealousy, conspiracy, and the absolute misuse of power by a group of cops across the State Police and the Intelligence Bureau.

The CBI has named 18 police officers responsible for fabricating a case that shook the nation and destroyed the lives of several innocent people, including Dr. Nambi Narayanan. The officers listed as accused by the CBI include S. Vijayan, the then Special Branch Inspector, and R.B. Sreekumar, the then Deputy Director of the State Intelligence Bureau, who later retired as the DGP of Gujarat and gained popularity by holding Narendra Modi responsible for the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Revenge of a Police Officer for Denying Sexual Advances – How the Case Emerged

The final report submitted by the Delhi Special Crime Unit of the CBI to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thiruvananthapuram on June 26, 2024, unfolds the whole story of a state-sanctioned crime involving several stakeholders. According to the CBI's findings, the story begins on October 10, 1994, when Mariam Rasheeda and Fousia Hassan, two Maldivian nationals, walked into the office of the Commissioner of Police in Thiruvananthapuram to request an extension of Mariam Rasheeda’s visa, which was due to expire in a week. In the office of the Police Commissioner, they encountered S. Vijayan, the Circle Inspector of the Special Branch.

The report details how a sequence of events, driven by personal vendettas and misuse of power, led to the wrongful arrest and torture of Dr. Nambi Narayanan and others. The CBI's investigation revealed that the ISRO espionage case was concocted out of revenge, sexual jealousy, and conspiracy, demonstrating the absolute misuse of power by a group of officers across the State Police and the Intelligence Bureau.

“Mr. Vijayan took the Passport and air tickets (Air India tickets for travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Sri Lanka to Male, starting   17.10.1994) of Ms Mariyam Rasheeda, and asked them to come again. On 13.10.1994, Inspector Vijayan came to the room in Hotel Samrat where Ms. Mariyam Rasheeda and Ms. Fauzia Hasan were staying and asked Ms Fauzia Hasan to go out of the room.  After Ms Fousia Hasan came out of the room, Mr Vijayan closed the room and made sexual advances towards Ms Mariyam Rasheeda, attempting to embrace her Ms. Mariyam Rasheeda however spurned sexual advances of Mr Vijayan. Mr Vijayan hurriedly left the room”, states the final report submitted by the CBI.

There begins the series of atrocities committed by a team of cops

Though Vijayan had to leave the room as Mariam Rasheeda resisted his sexual advances, he searched the hotel records and found that Rasheeda was in touch with D. Shashikumar, a scientist with ISRO. He passed this information to the Commissioner of Police V.R. Rajeevan, who brought it to the attention of R.B. Sreekumar, Deputy Director of the SIB (Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau). A team of officers from the SIB conducted a search in their hotel room on October 16 but found nothing suspicious. Mariam Rasheeda was supposed to fly back to Sri Lanka on October 17, two days prior to the expiry of her visa. She sought out Vijayan several times to get her air tickets and passport back, but each time she was told that Vijayan was not in the office. Consequently, she could not leave the country, which created grounds for a case of "illegal stay beyond the period of visa."

Mariam Rasheeda was asked by the officers to come to Vijayan’s office on October 20, 1994, where she was informed that she had been placed under arrest. A case under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act was registered against her. At the same time, outside the office of the City Special Branch, there was a crowd of photographers and media personnel who had apparently been informed by the Kerala Police. This marked the beginning of the horrific episode of media trial, one of the worst in the history of Indian media. From the following day onwards, Malayalam media was awash with stories of "espionage" that crossed all boundaries of media ethics. Newspapers carried sensational stories describing the "sensuous beauty" of Mariam Rasheeda and Fousia Hassan, portraying them as women using their charm to "smuggle the priceless secret rocket technology to another country." No one questioned the logic of two uneducated women "smuggling" cryogenic engine technology to a foreign country.

Espionage- a false narrative cooked up by the cops

Interestingly, while the media was flooding with stories of "espionage," there was no evidence on record—nor an FIR regarding the same. Until November 12, 1994 (around two weeks after her arrest for overstaying due to the expiry of her visa), there was no case of espionage on record at all. According to the CBI, her custody would end on November 14, and the police wanted a fresh case to continue holding her. Thus, an FIR was lodged on November 13 under the Official Secrets Act against Mariam Rasheeda and Fousia Hassan. The CBI found that the FIR contained no specific activities by the accused nor any sources of information. The CBI discovered the case diary in which Inspector Vijayan recorded that he acted upon the advice of the then Assistant Public Prosecutor, Habib Pillai, and thus registered the second FIR. However, Habib Pillai, during the CBI’s interrogation, denied giving such advice.

A Special Investigation Team was formed, headed by Siby Mathews, the then DIG of Crimes. The CBI also identified him as one of the conspirators, and he is among the 18 accused in the final report submitted to the Judicial Magistrate Court. Inspector Vijayan was also part of the SIT. Four more persons were arrested with no evidence on record, according to the CBI.

ISRO scientist Shashikumar was arrested from Ahmedabad on November 21, 1994. K. Chandrashekhar, a Bangalore-based representative of a Russian space agency, was arrested on November 23, and Nambi Narayanan was arrested on the 30th from his home in Thiruvananthapuram. Sudheer Kumar Sharma, a Bangalore-based labor contractor, was also arrested the day after Nambi Narayanan’s arrest. The CBI found that all the arrests were made based solely on the "confessions" of previously arrested individuals, with no material evidence substantiating the confessions sought in police custody.

The investigation was taken over by the CBI, and thus the sensational espionage case reached an anti-climax. The CBI found no evidence for the alleged offense of espionage, by which the two women and the scientists "smuggled the cryogenic engine technology to Russia." The "confessions" regarding the "places of secret meetings," "passing of drawings and documents of various technologies," and "receipt of money in consideration for the same" were all found to be fragmented pieces of imagination constructed by a team of cops. The story was dismantled by the CBI, and they filed a closure report in court in 1996, exonerating all the accused, including Dr. Nambi Narayanan.

A story with multiple climaxes

The espionage story, which could have had a "happy ending" in 1996 with the CBI’s closure, took another dramatic turn. In addition to filing a closure report, the CBI also sent a Self-Contained Note (SCN) to the Ministry of Home Affairs highlighting the serious lapses committed by nine officers of the Intelligence Bureau, including R.B. Sreekumar, and recommended taking necessary action. A similar notice was sent to the Government of Kerala recommending action against three officers of the Kerala Police: Siby Mathew, K.K. Joshua, and S. Vijayan. However, the Union Government took no action on these recommendations by the CBI.

Instead of adhering to the CBI’s recommendation, the Kerala Government preferred to reopen the case against the victims of the conspiracy. The LDF Government in power at the time issued an order to reinvestigate the espionage case. K. Chandrashekhar, one of the accused in the case, challenged this order, and the Supreme Court quashed the government's order for reopening the case, citing that the order was mala fide.

The Kerala Government’s bias in favor of the police did not end there. In 2011, the UDF Government issued a notification not to take any disciplinary action against the officers for their alleged lapses. This time, Nambi Narayanan challenged this order, leading to an emphatic victory for him. In 2018, the Supreme Court not only quashed the Kerala Government’s order in favor of the erred officers but also awarded ₹50 lakh in compensation for the police excesses meted out to him, including custodial torture, wrongful imprisonment, and humiliation suffered. The Supreme Court further ordered the formation of a committee to look into the circumstances that led to the arrest and detention of the victims in the espionage case and to investigate the lapses committed by the police.

In adherence to this order, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a committee under the chairmanship of retired Justice D.K. Jain. The Jain Committee submitted its report in 2021, and the Supreme Court asked the CBI to conduct an investigation into the lapses committed by the erring officials.

The investigation reached its culmination in June 2024, when the CBI filed its final report. It was categorically stated that the entire espionage story was an example of state excess that has no parallel in the history of the rule of law in the country. There are not many victims like Nambi Narayanan who could continue their battle for over thirty years to bring it to a successful conclusion. Chandrashekhar passed away in September 2018, unfortunately just hours before the historic verdict of the Supreme Court was pronounced, awarding ₹50 lakh in compensation to Nambi Narayanan. S.K. Sharma, another accused in the espionage case, passed away in November 2018, a couple of months after the Supreme Court verdict.

Nambi Narayanan, now 82 years old, was once again surrounded by cameras and microphones at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram on July 10, 2024, following the media reports on the filing of CBI’s final report. He reminded the journalists how he had been treated when he was arrested. "I know the truth will prevail, no matter how much time it takes," he said.